Reporter

Perth mixed martial arts fighter Chris Indich’s future with the UFC appears to be in doubt after he was outclassed by New South Wales fighter Richard Walsh in their clash at the Ultimate Fighter Live Finale in Quebec, Canada.

The two welterweights, both veterans of the UFC’s reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter Nations, were essentially fighting for a UFC contract after unsuccessful runs on the show, and there could only be one winner.

Prior to the fight Indich, 26, claimed the only way Walsh could stop him coming forward was to finish him, however he didn’t count on Walsh’s mastery of the clinch game against the fence.

In every round, Walsh went for takedowns, and if unsuccessful pinned Indich against the cage and mixed up elbows and punches, especially in the second round.

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True to his word however Indich kept coming forward, with commentators John Anik and multiple division title challenger Kenny Florian suggesting a move to lightweight may be in Indich’s future.

As much as Walsh battered to Indich he refused to quit, and the Brazilian jiu jitsu purple belt came close to submitting Walsh in the first round with multiple guillotine choke attempts.

However Walsh's speed and aggression were simply too much for the WA fighter with judges awarding Walsh the win with a unanimous 30-27 scoreline from all three judges.

For 25-year-old Walsh, he signalled that he truly belonged at the highest level, while for Indich, more work is needed but at just 26, he has the time to work on his skills and come back stronger, an example set by fellow Perth fighter Soa Palelei after his unsuccessful inital foray into the UFC.

Unfortunately for Melbourne fighter Vik Grujic, time may not be on his side, as the 37-year-old was on the losing end of a 30-27 unanimous decision against powerful Canadian Nordine Taleb.

Grujic, a thyroid cancer survivor and father of three, showed plenty of aggression during the bout but had no answer for Taleb's wrestling, spending most of the match with Taleb in his guard.

Although he battled valiantly across the three rounds, Taleb was on another level, and with the final strike of the fight, an elbow from top position, split open Grujic's forehead.

Grujic was bloody but unbowed, although he is unlikely to have his UFC contract extended.

Australia's forgotten man in the UFC, welterweight Kyle Noke, made his return to the octagon for his first fight since September 2012 against fellow TUF coach Patrick Cote, the first man to take the legendary Anderson Silva into the third round.

The French-Canadian took the first round decisively, taking Noke down and landing elbows and punches repeatedly from full guard while Noke attempted armbar submissions.

A knee to the head of Cote changed the momentum of the fight, with Noke landing big shots to the former middleweight title challenger, however Cote managed a takedown towards the end of the round to regain some ground.

The final round remained a stalemate until Cote caught a kick from Noke and threw him to the ground, securing the takedown and the fight, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.